Japanese electronic and telecommunications manucaturers are discussing a joint venture to develop a wireless network for personal communications that could also transmit video images, Matsushita Communication Industrial Co Ltd said on Friday: total investment over seven years from next March, could be in the region of $60m; the Nippon Keizai Shimbun reported that the companies planned to ask a government-affiliated technology centre to cover 70% of development costs; the new hand-held device would use microwaves with broader bandwidth than UHF radio signals currently used for cellular phones and television; the newspaper said the participants also include NEC Corp, Sony Corp, NTT Mobile Communications Network Inc, Hitachi Ltd, Toshiba Corp, Fujitsu Ltd, Mitsubishi Electric Corp and Oki Electric Industry Co.
